The 207th Rifle Division began its combat path under unusual circumstances. It was partly formed for the first time as a standard
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
rifle division in the spring of 1941, before the German invasion, but was never completed. A second formation began in April 1942 and was completed on June 1, after which it was sent to the
Stalingrad Front. Heavily depleted in counterattacks against the north flank of German
Sixth Army, by November the survivors were reassigned and the division disbanded. The 207th was formed for a third time in June 1943, and fought its way through the central part of the Soviet-German front, ending the war in the heart of Berlin in the battle for the
Reichstag. The division saw postwar service in the
Group of Soviet Forces in Germany
The Western Group of Forces (WGF),. previously known as the Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany (GSOFG). and the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (GSFG),. were the troops of the Soviet Army in East Germany. The Group of Soviet Occupati ...
.
1st Formation
The 207th Rifle Division began forming on March 4, 1941. Very little is known about this formation:
2nd Formation
The second 207th Rifle Division began forming in April 1942, to begin with in the
North Caucasus Military District
The North Caucasus Military District was a military district of the Russian Armed Forces, which became in 2010 the Southern Military District and lately also included the Black Sea Fleet and Caspian Flotilla.
It comprised the Republic of Adygeya, ...
, based on a cadre from the 52nd Rifle Brigade. It did not have a commander assigned until after it moved to
Ivanovo
Ivanovo ( rus, Иваново, p=ɪˈvanəvə) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Russia. It is the administrative center and largest city of Ivanovo Oblast, located northeast of Moscow and approximately from Yaroslavl, Vlad ...
in the
Moscow Military District
The Order of Lenin Moscow Military District was a military district of the Soviet Armed Forces and the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The district was awarded the Order of Lenin in 1968. In 2010 it was merged with the Leningrad Military Di ...
in June. The division's primary order of battle was as follows:
* 594th Rifle Regiment
* 597th Rifle Regiment
* 598th Rifle Regiment
* 780th Artillery Regiment
The division was first assigned to the 10th Reserve Army in the
Reserve of the Supreme High Command
The Reserve of the Supreme High Command (Russian: Резерв Верховного Главнокомандования; also known as the '' Stavka'' Reserve or RVGK ( ru , РВГК)) comprises reserve military formations and units; the Sta ...
. In August it returned to the south, assigned to
24th Army in
Stalingrad Front. During the following two months the 24th, along with the
66th and
1st Guards Armies, were thrown into a series of desperate and costly counterattacks against the north flank of the German "corridor" that led their positions in Stalingrad. In November the 207th was so worn down that its survivors were reassigned to help rebuild the
387th Rifle Division, and the division was officially disbanded in the
Don Front The Don Front was a front of the Soviet Red Army during the Second World War, which existed between September 1942 and February 1943, and was commanded during its entire existence by Konstantin Rokossovsky. The name refers to Don River, Russia.
For ...
on December 2.
3rd Formation
A new 207th Rifle Division was formed on June 6, 1943, in the
5th Army in
Western Front, based on a cadre from the 40th Rifle Brigade and the 2nd formation of the 153rd Rifle Brigade. Its order of battle remained the same as the 2nd (and probably the 1st) formation. It inherited the
Order of the Red Banner
The Order of the Red Banner (russian: Орден Красного Знамени, Orden Krasnogo Znameni) was the first Soviet military decoration. The Order was established on 16 September 1918, during the Russian Civil War by decree of th ...
unit award that had been won by the 40th.
The division remained in 5th Army in Western Front until October,
fighting towards Smolensk, until it was transferred to
10th Guards Army
The 10th Guards Army was a Soviet Guards formation which fought against Germany during World War II under the command of several generals. Formed in 1943, the army fought under various headquarters and ended the war besieging cut-off German force ...
in the same Front. At the end of the year 10th Guards went to the
2nd Baltic Front
The 2nd Baltic Front (russian: 2-й Прибалтийский фронт) was a major formation of the Red Army during the Second World War.
History
The 2nd Baltic Front was formed on October 20, 1943 as a result of the renaming of the Baltic ...
, and in January 1944, the 207th joined the
79th Rifle Corps The 79th Rifle Corps () was a rifle corps of the Red Army in World War II that became part of the Soviet Army during the Cold War.
World War II
The corps was formed in July 1943 as a headquarters with no troops assigned, and subordinated to th ...
in
3rd Shock Army in the same Front. The division would remain in that army until postwar, and in that corps as well, apart from a temporary reassignment to
93rd Rifle Corps from Apr. - June 1944.
In December, following the
Šiauliai Offensive
The Šiauliai offensive (russian: Шяуляйская наступательная) was an operation of the Soviet forces of the 1st Baltic Front, commanded by General Hovhannes Bagramyan, conducted from July 5 to August 29, 1944, during the Se ...
and the
Riga Offensive, 3rd Shock Army was transferred to the
1st Belorussian Front
The 1st Belorussian Front (Russian: Пéрвый Белорусский фронт, ''Perviy Belorusskiy front'', also romanized " Byelorussian") was a major formation of the Soviet Army during World War II, being equivalent to a Western army ...
. In this Front it took part in the
Vistula-Oder Offensive through Poland and eastern Germany, and the 207th distinguished itself in the conquest of eastern
Pomerania
Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to ...
, receiving the name of that German state as an honorific. During the
Battle of Berlin
The Battle of Berlin, designated as the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, and also known as the Fall of Berlin, was one of the last major offensives of the European theatre of World War II.
After the Vistula– ...
in late April 1945, 3rd Shock helped outflank the north side of the city and 79th Corps opened long-range artillery fire on it on April 20. The next day, elements of the army, and several others, reached the suburbs and entered difficult urban combat. On April 29, against fanatic resistance, 79th Corps began the symbolic struggle for the
Reichstag. The 207th supported its comrades of the
150th Rifle Division
The 150th Idritsa-Berlin Order of Kutuzov 2nd Class Motor Rifle Division (russian: Russian: 150-я Идрицко-Берлинская ордена Кутузова 2-й степени мотострелковая дивизия) of the Russian Gr ...
as they fought through the building and hoisted the Red Banner over it on the 30th.
The soldiers of the 207th Rifle Division ended the war with the official title of 207th Rifle, Pomerania, Order of the Red Banner,
Order of Suvorov
The Order of Suvorov () is a military decoration of the Russian Federation named in honor of Russian Generalissimo Prince Alexander Suvorov (1729–1800).
History
The Order of Suvorov was originally a Soviet award established on July 29, 1942 ...
Division. (Russian: 207-я стрелковая Померанская Краснознамённая ордена Суворова дивизия.) It went on to serve postwar with its army and its corps in the
Group of Soviet Forces in Germany
The Western Group of Forces (WGF),. previously known as the Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany (GSOFG). and the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (GSFG),. were the troops of the Soviet Army in East Germany. The Group of Soviet Occupati ...
.
After a period of being renamed the
32nd Rifle Division, it became the
32nd Motor Rifle Division
3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...
on 17 May 1957,
[V.I. Feskov et al 2013, 151.] and then the 207th Motor Rifle Division in 1965. After being stationed at
Stendal
The Hanseatic City of Stendal () is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is the capital of the Stendal District and the unofficial capital of the Altmark region.
Geography
Situated west of the Elbe valley, the Stendal town centre is located s ...
from 1957 to 1991, it was briefly moved to
Yarmolintsy,
Khmelnitskiy Oblast, before being disbanded in 1992.
References
*
{{Soviet Union divisions
207
Military units and formations established in 1941
Military units and formations disestablished in 1955
Infantry divisions of the Soviet Union